The present invention relates to data synchronization and, more particularly, to data synchronization that reduces network traffic.
Mechanical designers working concurrently with other designers at various locations are often required to download large amounts of data (GB) from a centralized data server to their local computers. Where this data is, for example, Mechanical Computer Aided Design (MCAD) data, the data can be made up of thousands of files, some of which may be very large (i.e., on the order of gigabytes), which are wholly or partially linked (i.e., as in assembly files pointing to parts or other sub-assemblies of a large apparatus).
To be sure that each designer uses the latest version of the files, the same files are downloaded each time a designer intends to make a change even if nothing has changed on many of the files. That is, if a particular designer wishes to make a minor change to one small file within MCAD data including thousands of files occupying 5 gigabytes of memory, the designer must first download the entire store of MCAD data prior to making the change. This leads to increased network traffic, data duplication, increased power consumption, deterioration of data integrity and decreased designer productivity.
Current solutions to these problems involve ftp (file transfer protocol) or synchronization programs to copy or synchronize files from one system to another. In these cases, files to be copied or synchronized are either selected individually or multi-selected using search criteria based on file name, extension, modification dates or location. Such methods are, however, not refined for those instances where the files to be copied or synchronized have links to other files such as in the case of MCAD data for assemblies where files must be selected not only based on the criteria listed above but also using links between files or Bills of Material (BOM). Since links between MCAD files or BOM are unknown to ftp programs, users must manually gather the files in a folder for all the components needed for a CAD assembly and then synchronize the folder in a process that can be time consuming and subject to errors or download the entire contents of the MCAD data.